Love Among The Stars
by VixenReborn
Summary: In space, you take love where you can find it, but sometimes meddling friends and teleporter accidents can make that difficult.  Zukaang
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I cry myself to sleep at night from my lack of owning Avatar.**

**A/N: Avatar in Space!**

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"Sokka is actually right about this. Every time we get supplies, we have to teleport them onto the ship and then manually move them or reset the teleporter to move them directly into the cargo hold. It takes far too much time and energy, both of them. The last time we were almost caught, we had to dump some of the cargo. I wont have that happening again. Are you sure you got it set up right?" Aang questioned.

"With the current modifications I'm sure it will be perfectly just what you want," Toph said with a Cheshire grin on her face.

Aang knew well enough not to trust her. She had been pulling far too many tricks recently. While none of them seemed life threatening, he certainly considered some of them damaging. Mostly to his own nerves, he had to admit. He was sure he could count on one other crew member to agree that his nerves were also in tatters at this point. It seemed like a constant challenge for each of them to try and stay two steps ahead of her. Toph seemed to have an idea in mind and she had a vice like grip on the idea that she wasn't letting go of.

Testing it would be the best thing he could figure. This way he might get an idea of what Toph was up to this time around. They had sent Zuko and Sokka off planet to grab a few supplies. It would be the best chance to see what the teleportation device was really capable of. He had Toph bring up the packages as soon as the away team gave the signal. He waited in the cargo bay and checked that there were no damages when they came in. Things seemed perfectly in order.

He clicked his communicator and said, "Good job, Toph. You mentioned earlier that this would work on the crew too?"

"That is right. I figured if we are ever in a pinch all we have to do is click the button and we can all be back in the ship in one go. The only catch is that we would have to all be touching, since its a one click, one go type thing. Which reminds me, I made a control trigger for it that you can carry with you. I figured that as long as you keep it with you then you might be able to get out of some sticky situations," Toph's voice cracked over the communicator.

"Yeah, that would have been great last week. I'll swing by and pick it up. Bring the rest of the crew and I'll be there in a moment," Aang said walking out of the cargo bay.

"Already done. I figured you wouldn't want them to linger any longer so I already brought them up. Sokka is off looking for food and Zuko said he was heading to his room. It didn't seem like they ran into any trouble, so I figured it was fine to just let them go."

Aang made it into the teleportation room moments after she finished talking. This new device was actually a great idea on Sokka's part and he had to really thank Toph for her brilliance at being able to set it up. He was technically the captain of the ship, but they were all equal and each of them knew it. There was nothing he could think to award that she couldn't already do for herself at this point. He just mentally logged it away to get her something extra nice for her birthday. Aang actually felt a bit guilty for not trusting her.

"Toph, recently with everything. I don't think I've been trusting you as much as you deserve. You did a great job on this and actually put a lot of work into it. Thanks. I know that everyone will really benefit from it," Aang said anxious as he rubbed at his bald head.

The Cheshire grin covered her face again and Aang tried to shake off the feeling that he was missing something. He wondered to himself if maybe she hadn't always had that grin and he had just glazed over it. He tried to brush it off as if it was just part of the fact that he hadn't been trusting her recently. She held out the small black device to him. It looked like an small key chain that had an inset button on it. He turned it over in his hands. Nothing would give it away as being linked to the ship and it seemed to have no indication to what it even was.

Toph frowned and said, "There is one thing. I went over the calculations again and again, but while it worked out fine from outside the ship, I'm not sure it will work out perfectly in the ship. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure it will send you somewhere in the ship, but it might send you anywhere in the cargo bay and not just in the center. If you want I can test it for you and let you know where I come out."

"I think you have done plenty. If you are sure enough that you are willing to test it on yourself, I'm sure it wont be a problem for me to give it a go. All I have to do is press the button?" Aang asked.

"Yup."

It was better now to test then wait for later. He didn't want to wait and find out when he needed it most that it wasn't working properly. He pressed the button and felt the usual stomach tumbling that came with being teleported. His eyes always seemed to close on their own during the process. Muffled water sounds filled Aang's ears. He opened his eyes and they widened further as his confusion lessened. Zuko's usual clothes were laid out on his bed and through the open bathroom door, he could tell that Zuko was taking his usual post trip shower.

Aang clicked his communicator and hissed into it, "Toph, I swear, I'm going to kill you when I get out of here!"

The only response was quiet laughing that came from the line.

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FN: Prompt: Teleporter Device (#16 of 50)


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: After all this writing, you would think I would own something, alas I do not.

A/N: Avatar space insanity. Lots of Zuko confusion.

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Unseeing green eyes glared at the flailing warrior as she said, "What did you do?"

"Well, when you gave Aang the teleporter to go straight to the cargo bay, I thought it would be nice if we had one for the kitchen to get food straight into our rooms," Sokka replied.

"I recall you bringing that up at the last meeting and I recall you also being shut down!" Toph said angrily.

"I just figured you guys didn't want to work on. I didn't think that it would be a problem. So, I came in here to work on it myself."

"You messed with the ship unsupervised," Toph ran the palm of her hand over her face. "We are lucky he didn't blow up!

"Um, Toph, I think he is about to right now," Sokka said staring at the teleporter area.

At the sound of an overly loud crack, Toph called on her communicator, "Aang, you better hurry, Zuko is trying to blast down the teleporter blast doors."

She didn't have to wait for a reply as Aang zoomed into the room on a ball of air in blur. She had become accustomed to sounds it made in the ship and heard the solid thud as he jumped off of it to land on floor. He walked across the room from its entrance to where the blast doors were located.

The sight before his eyes caused him a rush of emotions. Five Zuko's stared back at him. His eyes passed over them. The one in the back whose light blush and lingering gaze seemed to bring a light flush to Aang's own face. The one with wide eyes that looked lost and confused that filled him with a desire to comfort him. The one beside them that stood there grinning a smile that Aang thought might actually break the prince's face if it got any wider. The absolute contrast beside him that seemed to have unshed tears in his golden eyes and constant frown. Which brought him to the last one that stood just in front of him on the other side of the blast doors. The look on his face something Aang was only too familiar with.

Zuko's face contorted with rage and hatred. He could feel those blazing golden eyes fixed on him as the prince now stalked about the teleportation center in front of the others. Sizing him up with small looks and angry glares. His every movement sending out a predatory vibe.

"Toph, I want you to open every door I need between here and the sick bay," Aang said.

"Aang, I don't thin-"

"I didn't request that, Toph. That is an order. Sokka, get me the cuffs from the med kit back there." Aang said in a voice that clearly didn't allow room for questions.

Toph's hands flew across her electronic panel while Sokka ran around behind her grabbing for the med kit. The sound of doors opening across the ship echoed into the room. Sokka tore through the kit. It had been added after all the last minute jumps into the ship when they didn't need full medical treatment, but just a quick patch up. The hand cuffs had been added at the same time the blast doors were added. A few teleporter accidents later, they had managed to figure out a better way to protect themselves. Aang was almost grateful to those accidents now. Sokka gave a cry of triumph and Aang moved over to Toph and him. He tried carefully to not remove his eyes or turn his back to the Zuko that had now moved to press himself against the door to watch him. He took the hand cuffs from Sokka and leaned down and whispered something to Toph.

He watched with amusement as Zuko's eyes narrowed as he did so. The glare filling with a look of utter loathing. Aang's lips curved up into a small smile and Zuko's fist pounded into the blast door. The sound thundered through out the ship. He lost his smile and looked at him with a placid expression of seriousness. It seemed to calm him, but Aang knew that was only temporary. He walked in front of the blast doors again. He quickly cast one last look across to all the Zuko's in there.

"Zuko."

Five pairs of golden eyes faced him. Aang fought to calm the raging emotions he felt locked on him and within.

"I don't know what happened, but we can get this worked out. For the sake of everyone, including all of you, please try to do what is asked of you. I want to help you."

He had the hand cuffs ready, but hoped he didn't need to use them as he pressed to open the blast doors. Due to the damage, they didn't fully slide up and into place, but merely lifted and stayed out. The predatory Zuko seemed more relaxed once the doors were gone and seemed content enough to merely glare at him. Aang had been so intent on him that he hadn't realized another of the Zuko's was picking him up in excitement. He felt arms wrap around him excitedly before his brain could function properly.

"Aang!" He called out happily.

"That's nice, Zuko. Let go now." Aang replied trying to unwrap the arms from around him.

No sooner was he free that another Zuko seemed to come over to his other side. He could feel the prince's hands run across his back and he tried not to jump out of his skin.

"Nice hand cuffs. I didn't know you liked things like that. I've never used them before, but I'd be happy to try with you. I already know you look pretty good in bondage," A husky voice from behind him whispered in his ear.

A small mostly incoherent noise escaped him as he tried to move toward the exit, but was stopped by something that grabbed on to his hand. He looked and saw an almost terrified expression on Zuko who stood gripping his hand. Aang clutched it tighter in his and gave a reassuring smile. He was reward by small attempted smile back.

CLICK!

Turning to the source of the noise, Aang realized that during his attempt to comfort one Zuko, another one had stolen the handcuffs and actually hand cuffed himself to Aang's wrist. He swallowed hard as he looked up into half lidded burning gold eyes. He tried not to mimic the way Zuko was chewing on his lower lip. He tore his eyes away at the frustrated growl to his right.

"Will you just get on with it?" Zuko growled as he stormed past them and into the ship.

"Zuko, do you remember where you are going?" Aang said trying to hurry after him.

"Shut up, Avatar! Of course I do! Don't take me for some sort of Fool!" The prince yelled back.

Aang continually watched all around him as they traveled the ship's halls. It was difficult to make sure there were five of them, with two of them had made it their jobs to be plastered to his sides at all times. It was easy enough to keep track of the one though, because of the angry insults he kept tossing back at him. The grinning Zuko held the crying Zuko's hand somewhere behind him and Aang tried to pretend that it was all just some sort of really complicated dream.

Relief washed over Aang as he managed to shuffle into the sick bay. The sound of the doors closing behind the last two felt oddly uplifting to him. His relief was short lived though as he could hear shouts just across the room.

"I already told you I'm fine, Peasant! Don't touch me! I will roast you if you dare to come near me! Just who do you think I am!"

Turning back to the still lost and confused Zuko, Aang gave him another reassuring smile before directing him to one of the sick bay beds. Aang watched as he took a seat. He turned to the two that lurked behind him and found they had already found beds beside one another and waiting. That just left the one he was handcuffed to. That Zuko seemed to realize the same thing.

"So that just leaves us. Want to get a bed to ourselves?" Zuko asked moving closer to Aang.

"I think we should really get this sorted out as fast as possible. I should go check on your other self before-" Aang was cut off by lips that pressed against his own.

He wanted to pull away and do the right thing, but the desire and need from Zuko seemed to heat the quick kisses faster then Aang thoughts could keep up. He tried to pull away, but found Zuko's free arm holding onto him. The older boy's skilled tongue probing into his mouth. Zuko retracted his tongue only to nibble lightly on Aang's lower lip and he could feel the Zuko's hold on him squeeze him tighter. He let out a moan.

It was hard to tell if it was the desire or the need that was consuming and Aang didn't really care. He just knew he wanted what Zuko was offering. His own passion raising to match Zuko's. If there was one thing all of Toph's 'match making experiments' taught him it was that his own body craved Zuko's, but had been denied by the prince. Now that the prince pressed against him, he was going to take what he could.

He used his free hand to wrap around Zuko's neck and grab into Zuko's shaggy hair. His cuffed hand's fingers entwined with Zuko's. The bruising kisses Zuko left made Aang sure his lips would be swollen later, but he just tried to offer as much back to Zuko in return. Zuko's arm slid its way under Aang's shirt and up his back. His spine contorted against the prince's rough hands seeking more contact. Zuko's response was to begin lavishing kisses along Aang's neck and collar bone. Aang tried not to moan out at the playful bites the prince left or the hot tongue that rolled over the now abused skin. Aang writhed against Zuko as the prince began to run his nails along his spine.

All over his body felt like it was on fire. He knew he must have been flushed, but Zuko's own dusting of blush comforted him. His head felt like it was full of cotton and his thoughts seemed too incoherent, but his need to feel good drove his actions. His own eyes half lidded little pools of mecury lust meeting with amber pools that he felt he could just drown in. Zuko captured his lips again and Aang's racing heart sped up at the sheer passion lavished on him through the kiss. His hand in the prince's hair clutched tightly, but it just seemed to push the prince for more.

"Zuko! Go do something about... Yourself!" Katara cried out to disgruntled looking Zuko that stood next to her.

"I told you, stupid peasant."

Zuko broke the kiss, but it took Aang several moments to collect his thoughts enough to actually figure out why.

"Aww, did you guys come to watch," Zuko said to the now disgruntled pair that walked toward them.

"Maybe they are so angry, because they want to join in," Zuko whispered into his ear.

Aang fought the hysterical laugh that threatened to escape. He tried to untangle himself from the Zuko in his arms, but Zuko seemed to be trying just as hard to hang on to him. It took one very disgruntled Zuko to man handle the overly affectionate Zuko to a medical bed, after Katara had unlocked their cuffs. Katara had to help Aang steady himself.

"You, don't even look at me funny, or I will cool your thoughts by simply turning you into a chunk of ice. So don't even try it," Katara said threateningly to the now seated Zuko.

The disgruntled Zuko took a seat next to him and gave himself dirty looks. Katara meanwhile walked into another room of the medical bay where Aang followed her to. It was a bathroom and shower area. She pulled out a towel from a cabinet and shoved it at Aang.

"You, shower. A very cold one. I need you in your best shape for this. For what it's worth, I am sorry I couldn't find the key sooner. I didn't mean to just let you get molested. We don't actually know anything about Zuko in this state. It's best not to really have contact with them when we don't actually know anything about his current condition," Katara explained.

Once Katara left, Aang stripped out of his clothes. He turned the cold water on with only a light add in of hot. He let the cold water wash over him and tried to cool his thoughts. He felt guilty. He knew that Zuko had rejected him, but here he was taking advantage of a situation. It was more then that though. Zuko might have a time limit on how long he could be stuck like that before never being able to go back to regular and he was slowing down the process. There were too many what ifs and Aang knew he had let his own desire run away. It left a dirty feeling on him that the water didn't seem to wash away.

The shower at least seemed to help his thoughts. He knew while he formulated his thoughts that his crew would be doing their best too. After turning off the water, he dried himself quickly. He thought of just going to his room to grab fresh clothes, but the thought of having to pass all the Zuko's in nothing, but a towel screamed bad idea in his head. Instead after some light investigation he discovered that one cabinet held some white t shirts and black stretchy pants. He threw them on, but had to roll the band of the pants a few times to get it to fit properly.

He opened the door and found himself looking at Zuko. He was prepared to be on his guard, but the anxious face that looked at him made him relax. He called out to Katara. She walked up to him excitedly. Zuko took hold of Aang's hand much like as they walked down the halls. He patted the hand with his other one.

"Are we dealing with a case of incomplete clones or something?" Aang asked her.

"Nope, they are all Zuko. Every last one of them," Katara answered.

"How can that even be possible?"

Katara pulled out her communicator and pressed the button for Toph, "Care to explain now that Aang is here."

Toph's voice crackled over the line, "Genius here went messing with the teleporter. He was trying to find out how to send things directly to his room from the kitchen. However, he managed to cross the teleportation and the replication devices together. When Zuko called to be teleported aboard, I had no idea and brought him up. When he showed up on the ship, I realized something was strange when there were five heartbeats. I pressed the blast doors and called Sokka to find out what was actually happening and the rest Katatra has to fill you in on."

"So they are replicas and one of them is the real Zuko?" Aang asked.

"No, they are all Zuko," Katara insisted.

"Can you please explain more clearly." Aang asked.

"Well, it seems that for whatever reason during the teleportation with all the scrambled pieces of Zuko flying about mixed with the replication device multiplying things and Zuko was brought aboard looking like several different ones. They seem like clones, but really they are each an emotional aspect of Zuko. Each of them is merely a piece of the whole. For example, the one that is holding your hand is Zuko's fear and worry. Zuko is not an overly fearful person though, so he just mostly looks anxious with a dash of confused and lost thrown in."

Aang turned to look at the Zuko beside him and realized that she was right about him. He had an air of a lost child. Something about him just made Aang want to comfort him.

Katara pointed to the nearest occupied bed and said, "That is Zuko's anger. As we all know, he has enough of it for ten people. So he runs around shouting and screaming and says whatever mean and horrible thing he can, but seems very much like the Zuko we first met. I find him strangely enough to be the easiest one to deal with. However, I think there is a chance he might attack if you upset him too much."

She pointed to the bed beside him that seemed to have a force shield around it and said, "That is Zuko's lust. Never in a million years would I have thought he would be such a pervert. You don't even want to know all the things he said while trying to examine him. I repeatedly had to freeze him and finally gave up all hope and just locked him behind a force shield. It seems to keep Zuko's anger calmed a bit."

She then pointed to a bed across the isle where Zuko slept peacefully and said, "That is Zuko's sadness. That Zuko will break your heart. If you are not lucky enough you will be reaching for tissues or the nearest black hole just from talking to him. Some how, just from examining him, he talked me into tranquilizing him until we figure out a solution."

The last bed she pointed to and said, "That is the one that actually scares me the most. That is Zuko's happiness. We all know that Zuko has been adjusting to life with the crew and we have seen him happy plenty of times. We know he can be a pretty happy guy, but that much happiness on Zuko is just creepy. Gives me the feeling I've eaten way too much cotton candy."

"Besides being in pieces, how does... Zuko seem to be?"

"Well, I can't find anything wrong with any of them. Nothing seems off at all. Between Toph and I, we think she can just reverse the process Sokka took and just send him through the teleporter again. It should scramble him all back into one person. It will be really risky and if it wasn't that it was Toph, I'm not sure I would even suggest it."

"Did she say how long it might take her to do that?" He asked.

"A few hours since she actually needs Sokka's help. She needs to have him try and show her what he did in the first place and then she has to figure out the proper way to reverse it without messing anything up. Her metal bending has allowed her to figure out things with your ship better then even you. However, I really think you should give her a hand. While she can figure out the speedy fix, no one can fix the ship quite like you can," Katara responded.

"I did build it. I guess it really can't be helped," Aang said giving a look back at the anxious Zuko holding his hand.

"Can you fix it?" Zuko asked.

"I'll do everything I can for you," Aang said.

He let go of Zuko's hand and headed out the door. Toward the teleportation room. He found Toph and Sokka sitting on the teleportation pad with several panels of electronics in front of them. He tried not to wince seeing the ships innards displayed out like that.

"Sokka, I think you have done every thing you can at this point. You should go start tonight's dinner. Be sure you cook enough for all of Zuko. I'm sure if you make his steak the way he actually likes, that he might just forgive you," Toph told the boy.

Carefully Sokka removed himself from the pad and gave a worried look to Aang as he walked out the room. Aang knew he didn't need to say anything to the warrior. Sokka was already most likely beating himself up enough for the whole thing. Aang carefully picked his way over to pad where Toph was.

"Katara told me what happened. I'm really sorry," Toph said quietly to him.

"You didn't say anything to her did you?"

"No. She just said that she walked in and found Zuko mauling you and that it took one really pissed off Zuko to subdue him, while she tossed you into the shower so you could wash away the Zuko drool."

Toph was the only one who knew Aang and Zuko's current stand point with one another. After all her repeated attempts to get them together she had found out that while Aang cared desperately for the fire bender. Zuko however held on to his beliefs that currently they were in the middle of a war and that a war zone was no place for relations. He hadn't even been kind enough admit his own feelings to Aang. Toph knew Zuko loved Aang and she wanted desperately to tell him, but knew that even if she did, Zuko's unwillingness to do anything about it would keep driving them apart.

They spent the next hour working on the teleporter and replication devices together. The first twenty minutes of which Toph listened to the quiet sobs and frustrated tears of her friend and student. She wanted to comfort him, but knew that fixing the device would be the only real way to do so. At the end of the hour Aang sat tirelessly working on it as Toph stood and walked around a bit to stretch her tensed nerves. She listened to his erratic heartbeat before sending him back to the medical bay and vowing to get it completed and working in the next hour.

Dejectedly he walked back through the halls. He stopped one hall short of the actual bay. He felt his legs grow weak under him. He leaned heavily against a wall. He leaned his head against the wall and just breathed deeply. His emotions threatening to spill over again. Silver eyes flew open at the sound of footsteps. He turned to find Zuko facing him. Aang tensed unsure of just which emotion he was looking at. When eyebrows furrowed and lips frowned and eyes stared worriedly at him, he figured it out.

Aang gestured him over and found himself pulled up and into an embrace. He was starting to wonder if maybe he had guessed wrong when Zuko pulled back and looked at him.

"I'll be worried enough for the both of us. I'm scared, but I want you to be happy. Just smile for me," Zuko said as his voice broke with emotion.

Aang tried to smile and felt a few tears spill from his eyes. Zuko grabbed him and pulled him into another hug. The prince leaned against the wall and their legs carried them to the floor together. Aang rested his head against the prince's chest. He took comfort simply know that his existence here was giving some back. He refused to let himself stay for long though. He knew he needed to get back to the rest of Zuko. They walked together hand in hand the rest of the way. Each offering whatever comfort they could to the other.

The medical doors stood closed before him and he could hear chatter on the other side. It seemed that Zuko was excitedly talking to himself. He couldn't make out the words, but knew they had to be discussing something. He didn't want to open the door, but was spared from having to when it opened on its own. He looked up at a grinning Zuko. He attempted his best grin back.

"Katara left to find you. She got a call from Toph saying its done, but you left your communicator here after the shower. With only us here, he took off and I was starting to wonder what fun I was missing out on and was going to find you," The Zuko before him said.

"So its just you here?" Aang questioned.

"Sokka brought us food a bit ago, but he left with all the plates. I know he is always going on about meat, but would you believe he can make one seriously amazing steak? Seriously! It was great. I'm so stuffed!" Zuko said excitedly.

Zuko in front of him reached out and loop his arm around Aang's and pulled him into the room. Aang followed along mildly in a daze.

"Shouldn't we be getting you to the teleporter room?" Aang asked.

"Pfffft, give Toph some credit! That girl said she would teleport us from the medical bay into the teleporter room and that we should be fixed by the time we get there. She is good like that."

Aang had to side with Katara. Too much unconstrained happiness really didn't suite Zuko. It just made him come off creepy with the constant ear to ear grin. Anxious Zuko held on to his hand. Grip firm.

They sat down together on an empty bed. He looked from one emotion to the rest.

Before he could try and say something to them, he felt the familiar woozy feeling that came along with teleporting. He closed his hands and felt the hand in his nearly slip away, but gripped even tighter. He held on tightly. When he opened his eyes, he looked out at the teleportation room with Sokka, Katara, and Toph looking back at them. He looked down to his own clutched hand and looked up at Zuko who was staring back at him. Aang wondered at first if it had actually worked at the anxious expression Zuko was giving him, but then Zuko smiled.

Aang threw himself into his arms. He hugged him as tightly as he could and then felt Zuko's arms slowly wrap around him. The rest of the group jumped up on the pad and hugged them both. Happy that they were done and over with the whole ordeal.

"Zuko, I would like to run some tests on you just in case. Stop by the medical bay as soon as you are done here," Katara said leaving.

Toph pulled Sokka into the hall as she started talking about how they were going to fix the the blast doors. Aang smiled after them. He turned to Zuko who still stood beside him on the pad. There hands still clasped.

"Do you remember everything?"

Zuko nodded.

"What did it feel like?"

"Like a confrontation with my inner self. Every emotion had their own thoughts. They were all separate people. I remember everything all of them did. Which is just really strange, considering they were often looking at one another. I feel seriously full of Sokka's dinner," Zuko explained.

"Did you figure anything out from all this?"

"Yeah. I really did," Zuko said and Aang felt the grip on his hand tighten.

"Any regrets?"

Zuko cast a playful look at him and ran off the pad, but just before leaving the room he said, "Only that Katara found the key so soon."

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FN: Prompt: Confrontation with Innerself (#24 of 50)


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own neither Avatar or The Light Princess, but the crack idea to mix them was mine.

A/N: Avatar in Space, Holodeck story mixing.

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"I'm serious, Zuko. I have written over both Aang and your pass codes. The only way you are getting out of this is if you hit the trigger in the story. Also, don't hold out hope of Sokka or Katara saving you, because I already wrote over theirs too. I told them the holodeck is out of order right now, so they wont question that the door is locked. They think you guys are out buying supplies, so they don't expect you back for a few days anyways," Toph's voice echoed through out the forest.

Zuko stared up at the sky, where he expected she was probably 'watching' from and said, "What exactly are you planning to get out of this?"

"I'm tired of having you guys dance around each other. You both have finally gotten to the point of avoid each other and its disrupting everyone. You're obviously not going to do something about it till something happens. Now hop to it prince, your princess is in need of saving!"

"What if I don't know the story?"

Toph's laugh echoed through out the forest he was standing in. His skin prickled a bit and he swore under his breath. When she said prince and princess he had a bad feeling, her laugh didn't help. He knew he was going to have to pay her back for this later.

He took a moment to look over himself. He seemed to be wearing traveling clothes befitting a prince, but nothing blatantly said royalty. He suspected he was in disguise. He had a pack on his back, but if there was one thing Toph knew how to do it was pack a travel set, so he didn't bother looking. It would probably only contain things like more clothes, food, and a sleeping bag. He set out through the forest. It was only a short distance before he heard splashing.

Hope carried Zuko as he ran toward the noise. He desperately wished to get this done and over with. At the very least he wished to know what story he would be forced to carry out. The light shone through the trees and he picked up his pace. He made it to the edge of the forest and dropped his pack. Zuko ran out into the light. He stopped for a moment overly dazzled as it seemed to reflect back at him. He had just a moment to look and realize he was facing a lake. His heart sunk in that instant, as he looked in and saw a familiar person that seemed to drowning.

Zuko didn't even give his eyes a second to adjust. He dove into the lake and grabbed hold of the person. He felt arms flailing against him and tried to pull the person out of the water. As he reached a spot where his feet found hold, he tried to lift the person out of the water. Instead, the most interesting thing happened. The second he pulled the person out of the water they seemed to lose almost all feeling in his hands. The force he used to lift the person seemed to shoot the person right up in the air. Zuko found himself face to face with Aang, but Aang's body was floating in the air behind him.

"Oh, you have got to be joking!"

Aang rolled his eyes and attempted to straiten the dress he was wearing while saying, "Stupid traveler. What do you think you are doing lifting me up in the air? Don't you know that I could have floated off?"

Lifting a hand to cover his face, Zuko said, "I … I … I can't do this. I'm pretty sure, I'd rather sit here and starve then have to go through this. Of all the stories, she just had to pick this one."

"Come on, Zuko. You at least have the roll of the prince. She at least could have left me wearing pants. I have to float around, which I admit it actually pretty fun, but seriously, I don't like the thought of floating away. Please don't do that again. Though floating around while wearing a dress is pretty embarrassing. Let's just do what she asks and get this all over with. I already thought the trigger might be the end of the story and that I just had to cry to get it all to end. I tried that already," Aang explained.

"She probably has it set up as a series of small triggers. We have to pass all of them, before we finally hit the last one that will let us out. Guess that means we better go according to the story line," Zuko said agitatedly.

Aang gave a nervous laugh. Zuko looked over and saw the 'sun' was already starting to set and realized they had better hurry things along.

"Guess this means we better try and stay in character as much as possible," Aang said anxiously.

Zuko nodded and then gathered all of his own courage as he said, "I am sorry to give you such a fright. I heard splashing noise and with my eyes so dazzled at your sight I jumped in the water for fear that you were drowning. As it was I who pulled you from the water, please allow me to put you back in it."

Aang's face was lightly covered in a blush that Zuko struggled hard to ignore. He knew if he didn't ignore things now that later it would only turn out much worse. He tried hard to keep himself in the moment and not think about the end of the story.

"Yes, traveler. I think that would be a great idea," Aang said and gave another laugh.

Reaching up, Zuko grabbed hold of Aang's wrist and slowly pulled the boy down to him. Carefully, he wrapped his arms around him. He held Aang like the princess he was pretending to be. His heart sped up, but he tried to brush that thought off. He looked into silver eyes. He could see his own happiness and confusion written in them. He tore his eyes away and felt the twinge in his heart for doing so. They still had so much to do and no time to contemplate things like feelings. Zuko's eyes searched for a decent spot and he walked near to it.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

The look on Aang's face told Zuko clearly enough that Aang had well forgotten they were in the story and was already thinking of other things. Zuko once again repeated his new mantra in his head to just ignore and forget it. Instead, he clutched tighter to Aang and readied his stance and ran. He took a flying jump off the side of the lake and felt the water wash over them. He could feel the actual weight of Aang in his arms at this point. He wanted to just keep hold, but reluctantly he let go and Aang swam for the surface. He felt like his heart had sank to the bottom of that lake.

"That was very exciting!" Aang said as Zuko reached the surface.

He swam out to the middle of the lake and found Aang following him. Zuko dived under water and swam a short distance. He saw he still had a shadow. He swam to the edge and still found Aang following. He headed out to the middle of the lake, but as he got there he found that Aang had some how beat him. His heart raced from the thrill of the chase. He could hear Aang's own laughter every time he surfaced. It made his heart and head feel light.

It was actually shocking to realize that night had set in as they swam. Talking of nothing and just really enjoying each others company. Many times he had gotten close to Aang and so many times he had fought the urge to just grab hold of him and embrace him. The story made it easy to forget the war that was still being waged outside. It was easy to forget they were even in the holodeck. Those silver eyes made it just so easy to lose himself. He wanted to give in, to surrender and find safety in the embrace that Aang offered. To give his heart peace in the sweet kiss that Aang's lips would give and find heaven in that pale skin he was longing to caress. He fought for control, because he knew he wouldn't want to stop. That he simply couldn't then.

After one particularly close call of them nearly swimming into each other, they decided to call it a night. He swam with Aang under the balcony of his room and helped him out of the water and gave him a good push. Aang managed to grab hold of the balcony and was in the room with only one small glance back to him. He tried to quell the butterflies that shifted about.

Slowly, he made his way back to the other side of the lake. He sloshed his way out and looked around in the dark for his pack. He found a small fire burning for him and his pack near it. He thanked Toph quietly. He still wasn't going to forgive her for this, but at least he could be grateful that she wasn't going to make he do it all on his own.

He pulled off his clothes and changed into the dry ones he found in the pack. He unrolled the sleeping bag and and laid out on it and ate the rations he found also in his pack. As he ate he watched the 'sun' suddenly start to rise. As it rose in the sky, he could see the lake water slowly lowering.

Zuko quietly swore to himself. Toph was the type to offer an umbrella in a hurricane, he now realized. He knew that it had felt like they swam all evening, but in reality he knew it only had to of been an hour or possibly two. It should figure that Toph wouldn't give him time to sleep and prepare himself to deal with "princess" Aang again. She would know better then to give them days for the lake to drain too. If they had a chance, they would just find a way around the end and most likely out of the holodeck. He felt angry with himself for not figuring that out sooner.

His fire went out on its own and he took it as a sign to pack up. By the time he had everything stuffed back in the pack, the sun had already risen high in the sky and the lake looked as dry as if it never had any water. He made it to the castle just in time to meet Aang who was standing next to a boat.

"They told me a servant was going to sacrifice themselves to bring the water back to the lake. I had no idea it was you," Aang said looking distraught.

"I'm willing to do whatever it takes to see you smile. Since the process shall be long, I requested that you would wait in this boat and keep me company as the lake fills and I drown," Zuko said dryly.

Zuko picked up the front half of the boat and Aang grabbed the back half and they carried the boat into the middle of the lake where the hole that Zuko was to cover was located. They set it down.

"I think this is a really bad idea, Zuko."

"There really isn't much else that we can do. We have to complete the story. I drown, you cry, gravity returns to you, end of story," Zuko said as he struggle to properly fill the hole.

Water started rushing around him. He knew in the actual story that the process was supposed to take all day and the better part of the night, but from the rate the water seemed to be rising, he figured it really wasn't going to be long.

"Zuko..."

He faced the smaller boy who was in the boat that was already floating on the water.

"What if it actually does fill up all the way? Toph is not known for doing something half way. She might rush things, but she always completes them. I don't want you to drown."

"The important part of this story is the princess getting her gravity back and finally learning about other emotions," Zuko said.

"But the prince has to suffer for it!"

"He comes out of it alive in the end," Zuko pointed out.

"But not before you drown and have to spend the night practically dying. I don't want that to happen," Aang said frantically.

Zuko stood in silence letting the water rush about his stomach. The almost terrified look that Aang was giving him caused his heart to speed out of control. Aang looked half way to tears already and Zuko just wanted to hold him. He had fought so hard already not to, but these emotions were tearing him up inside to watch. He pulled the little boat Aang sat in closer to himself and reached a hand out to grab hold of Aang's.

The water had already reached his chest, but neither Aang or Zuko seemed to notice as Aang leaned for ward in the boat and captured Zuko's lips in a kiss that Zuko didn't have time to enjoy. Their lips were broken apart as Aang fell. Zuko stood in the middle of the holodeck with Aang sitting on the floor. The lake and castle both gone. Zuko and Aang found themselves in their regular clothes. Staring at one another awkwardly.

Zuko collected his wits and left for the door. He made it only a few steps when Aang's arms wrapped around his waist.

"Don't go. Please. Don't go. You leave me like this every time. Please. Not this time."

His eyes slid shut and he sank his teeth into his lower lips. His brows furrowed together with emotion. He reached his hands up to Aang's to try and undo the vice like grip to boy had on him. He pulled the hands from around him, but kept hold of them for a moment. He knew it had been a mistake to hesitate, but he tried to walk away. His feet seemed glued to the floor.

Aang walked around him and threw himself against his chest. Zuko's arms wrapped around the boy on their own. He pulled the boy tightly against him. He could make out the small shuddering breaths the boy took. After a moment of being held, Aang pulled back to look him in eyes. He stared down into pleading watery silver eyes. He knew he had lost. He closed the distance to their lips and enjoyed in this kiss what he couldn't from their short one before.

* * *

FN: Prompt: Childhood story comes to life (#15 of 50)


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Avatar doesn't belong to me, and I'm sure final fantasy owns all right to any victor music.**

**A/N: Avatar in Space insanity in the form of Toph's revenge**

* * *

"The opportunity just never arose," Zuko said.

"You and I both know that plenty of ones did. We just made it a point of keeping it secret," Aang pointed out.

The self exiled prince shrugged before saying, "It's not like we didn't have our reasons."

"Zuko, we both know that if it wasn't for her constant meddling we wouldn't even be looking at each other, let alone anything else. We should have told her. She has a right to be angry."

"She tortured us! She is still torturing us! She brought us together and since she found out she has been pulling us apart. I can't event tell what she is thinking at this point. Does she actually not want us together or does she just want to see us suffer?" 

"Toph is just really angry right now. Her real motive was clear in the first place, now she is just doing things, because she is upset, which as I said, she has every right to be."

Zuko stopped walking and looked down at Aang, saying, "So you are saying that just, because she repeatedly forced us on each other and we finally broke down and gave in, she has a right to be angry, because we didn't tell her?"

Exasperatedly, Aang said, "Yes. She put a lot of work into some of those things. Rigging the holodeck and fixing the teleporter like that were no easy feats. I'm sure all her other plans had just as much work. She did it, because she cares and want us to be happy. She knew we would find that happiness in each other and now we didn't even have the good grace to even pat her on the back or say good job, let alone tell her that all her hard work actually paid off or that she was even right in the first place."

"It our relationship. What happens between us should be only between us."

"Zuko, there wouldn't be an 'us' if it wasn't for her."

With a frustrated sigh, Zuko started walking toward the meeting room again. Aang tailed behind him.

The meeting today was to discuss various repairs and needs the ship required. It was also a chance for the crew to discuss any ideas for the future and plans they might be able to make. They had attempted to try and hold them at a weekly rate, but sometimes with the hectic life they led, it wasn't always possible. This particular meeting had already been put off for two weeks.

They started with a discussion of the current inventory of the ships supplies that no matter how important always threatened to put the whole crew to sleep. He was then given a short list of required equipment the ship was going to need for repairs or things the ship had already used in its recent adjustments. They exchanged reports about their various doings in the past week. Mostly since they were a small crew at this point, it was things Aang was well informed of already. Never the less, he tried to pay attention to make sure he didn't miss anything that they might have forgotten to add the first time around. The next part of the meeting was the time Aang always looked forward to most. Aang was always happy to discuss upgrades to the ship and glad to know if there was anything that he could do to help people.

This time however, was often referred to as the 'Sokka Hour'. Aang wanted to give credit where it was due and Sokka had actually come up with a lot of important things that could and had helped them in different situations. However, a lot of the time, it was mostly them sitting around from anywhere between thirty minutes to an hour and listening to Sokka brain storm ideas that most of the crew would shoot down. He always found it amazing how Sokka always seemed to come up with the ideas in a new more intricate way after having been shut down before.

He listened to Katara repeatedly shut down his various ideas. His favorite reoccurring one being Sokka's idea to market cactus juice. It seemed like every Sokka Hour started with having to shut that idea down. However, he had to hand it to Sokka, he sure had persistence. After Sokka's latest and great scheme Katara started to dismiss his next idea, but Aang stopped her.

"Repeat that again," He said.

Katara raised her eyebrows in a look that clearly said, "Don't encourage him."

"I was saying that we should come up with some sort of battle music. Something that would alert the ship to our victory. We have the ship alerts when we get into battle, I just think when that stops, there should be some sort of noise to signify it as being all over," Sokka explained.

"And what would we possibly need it for?" Katara asked perplexed.

"For one, so that I might have some idea when everything was over. I can't exactly watch the battles," Toph admitted.

"Sorry, Toph," Katara said.

"I know it's easy enough to forget when I'm in the ship, because with all the metal's resounding surfaces and constant ship noise I can practically see in here, but the second I have to see anything among the stars, I'm in the black. I'd be happy enough to start work on one," Toph replied.

"I think that would be a good idea. I think it would raise crew morale too. Something that would be uplifting to remind the crew that we are winning," Aang added.

Sokka gave up hope of having any more victories of getting his ideas out there and in no time, they called the meeting to and end. The crew scattered to their own corners to start work on the things they had discussed. Aang could already imagine Toph heading into the teleportation area where she seemed to do most of her work and setting out to start working on something. Toph had put it perfectly when she said it was easy to forget her being sightless.

Aang walked out to the bridge of the ship. He sat down at the pilot's controls. He double checked their flight path and the rest of the read outs. He sat in the chair and lost himself in thoughts. It hadn't be long since he was awoken in a new century. The ship had already seen so many changes since then. He wondered how many more it might under go.

Zuko came in and reached over the seat to drape his arms around the smaller boy's neck. He rested his cheek against Aang's bald head. Aang reached an arm to drape over Zuko's and felt a tickle around his right ear where Zuko's shaggy hair seemed to fall on it.

"Maybe, you are right about Toph. She does a lot for this ship and for us too. It's easy to lose sight of, but we should have told her," Zuko said.

Aang pulled free of Zuko's hold on him and turned the seat around. He stood and wrapped him in a tight embrace. It felt good to be able to hold him like this and not have to worry about Zuko running away or who might find out on the crew. Zuko peered down at him and Aang could clearly read the emotion in them. Zuko captured Aang's lips with his own, but they both nearly jumped out of their skins at the sound of chimes that seemed to resonate around the ship.

"Tell me that was just a coincidence," Aang murmured.

Zuko kissed him again, but was prepared for the sound this time. Aang squeezed his already closed eyes more tightly shut. He refused to let Zuko move and just pulled the communicator from his pocket. He pressed the button that would link him to Toph.

"Toph, that does not count properly as victory."

"I worked hard on that victory, I feel I deserve to be notified," Toph's voice crackled back.

Zuko pressed the button and said, "We are sorry, Toph. We should have told you... I should have told you."

The sound chimed extra loud around the ship and for what Aang guessed to be twice as long. He rolled his eyes.

Sokka's voice came over the communicator, "Did we just win?"

Zuko did them both a favor and closed the communicater.

* * *

FN: Prompt: Battle Victory Music (#22 of 50)


End file.
